The Iraqi Landscape is littered with live munitions, waiting to explode.

The boy lay crouched on his side in the bed of a pickup truck. A small crowd gathered around him. About 70 feet away, an American soldier climbed hesitantly out of a humvee, gripping an M-16. “Is the kid in danger of dying?” he asked a middle-aged Iraqi man who had come toward him. The man looked confused. “His legs lost a lot of blood,” he replied. “His legs are injured very badly.”

“Unless he looks like he’s gonna die, we can’t do anything,” the soldier said. The man’s confusion dissolved into disappointment. “I’m not a doctor,” the Iraqi said, “but he’s hurt very seriously.” The young soldier climbed into the Humvee, having resolved his internal debate. “Stop hanging around,” he ordered, “and take the kid to the hospital.”